Walter Lomax, 67, spent more than two-thirds of his life in prison for a murder he did not commit.

The process of clearing his name began in 2006 when he was released from jail after a closer look at his case. On Wednesday afternoon, all of the charges were officially dropped.

"With the court's decision today, I literally feel free after almost half a century," Lomax said. "It has been extremely difficult, as one can imagine. I just turned 20 when I was arrested, so I spent two-thirds of my life in there."

It was in 1968 when a then-20-year-old Lomax was convicted of murdering 56-year-old Robert Brewer, who was working as a convenience store manager at a store in south Baltimore.

Lomax would remain in jail for 39 years until Circuit Judge Gale Rasin commuted his sentence to time served in 2006 citing problems with race and police misconduct and overwhelming evidence that had never been introduced in court that showed, in her mind, he did not commit the crime.

Now, more than eight years after that decision, Judge Charles Peters granted what's called an "actual innocence petition" and ordered a new trial for Lomax. The State's Attorney's Office agreed with Rasin's findings and dropped the charges against Lomax.

One of Lomax's attorneys, Billy Murphy, said cross-racial identification played a big role in the case.

"Dr. (Martin Luther) King had just been assassinated in 1968. Racial tensions were at an all-time high. Then, the riots came all over the country, and here in Baltimore, and that didn't make it easy for Walter Lomax to have a fair trial," Murphy said.

Lomax's sister, Carolyn Lomax, joined her brother on the Mitchell Courthouse steps Wednesday and told reporters she never gave up on him.

"I had to stay strong because I knew he didn't do it. That's why I stayed strong. I knew he didn't do it," Carolyn Lomax said.

Now, Walter Lomax said it's time to finally start living life.

"Close to a century, something my family members and I have waited for. I've finally been vindicated," he said.

No one from the murder victim's family was in court Wednesday or available for comment.

Lomax and his attorneys made it clear, though, that they do feel for Brewer's family because the person who actually did kill him got away with it.